BBN and CREN to provide dial-up internet access to colleges and universities.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 1995 - BBN (Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.) and the Corporation for Research in Educational Networking (CREN) have entered into an agreement to provide the faculty, students, and alumni of participating institutions with dial-up access to the Internet from more than 100 cities in the United States.

The arrangement will utilize BBN's Internet capabilities and technology developed under contract to CREN by MERIT at the University of Michigan, enabling U.S.-based CREN member institutions to offer their faculty, students, and alumni easy, low-cost Internet access. The BBN/CREN venture addresses the evolving needs of higher education institutions to provide traveling faculty and student, and geographically dispersed alumni, with electronic access to resources available on the global Internet including university news, courses, and information.

A prototype system has been under test by Cornell University, the University of Michigan, and Princeton University during the past year. CREN services using the BBN infrastructure will be offered nationwide at CREN member institutions beginning late this year. Each institution using these services will be able to market the network to its constituents and will be responsible for supporting and billing its users.

Ira Fuchs, vice president, Computing and Information Technology at Princeton University and President of CREN, said, "When we canvassed our higher education constituency, we discovered that this kind of service is something they clearly want. What makes this service most attractive to many institutions is the prospect of electronic alumni services, specifically those that enable alumni to enjoy activities with other alumni and to pursue continuing education." Douglas Van Houweling vice provost for Information Technology and dean for Academic Outreach at the University of Michigan, agreed, saying: "CREN's ability to provide national connectivity will allow the University of Michigan to broaden the community it serves to include alumni and the parents of our students."

Kenneth M. King, executive director of CREN, said: "BBN's Internet expertise and technology will enable our member institutions to use the Internet in a wide variety of exciting new ways. CREN is delighted to partner with BBN because it has a long track record of commitment to education and successful partnerships with the educational community."

"CREN has done outstanding work to promote the use of computing and communications technology to share the resources and expertise of the nation's colleges and universities," said George Conrades, BBN president and CEO. "We are pleased to aid in the development of the next generation of higher education communication."

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., BBN is a provider of internetworking-related technologies, data analysis software and collaborative systems. For its fiscal year ended June 30, 1995, BBN had revenue of $215 million. To access BBN's World Wide Web site, see http://www.bbn.com

For more information on CREN and its nationwide dial-up Internet access service see http://www.cren.net/.

CONTACT: Peter Thonis

BBN

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Marianne Sabella

For BBN

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Amanda Rushing

The Corporation for Research in Educational Networking

202-331-5360

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